The Price of Boredom
by PhoenixOfSpades
Summary: Dipper is bored and depressed after returning from Gravity Falls. Overhearing his parents talking about how they aren't going to be going back to Gravity Falls in the summer drives him to make a deal with a certain Dream Demon, losing his humanity in the process.
1. Chapter 1

It didn't take long after getting back from Gravity Falls for Dipper to get bored. It was a struggle to readjust to ordinary life after a summer of magic and mystery. Mabel struggled too, but it wasn't nearly as hard for her, as she made friends easily and was constantly doing something exciting. Meanwhile Dipper spent many nights flipping through the pages of the magically restored Journal 3, waiting for the next summer. Him and Mabel still talked often about their experiences, and their friends there, but she was the only one he could talk to about this, as anyone else would think he was crazy.

Boredom turned to depression, and by late June, Dipper had withdrawn, having little interest in socializing, except with Mabel, though he still didn't do that nearly as much as he used to. His sole beacon of hope was the letter that read,"See you next summer!" He knew that if he could just hold out until then, everything would be okay. He would be in that mysterious, magical, perfect town, see his friends again, and be happy. One day, though, everything changed.

He overheard his parents having a conversation. "Dipper hasn't been the same ever since he got back from that town," said Lisa Pines, the twins' mom. "You're right, and it's only gotten worse throughout the year," said Andrew Pines, their father. "I don't think the kids should go back this summer. It wasn't good for them, especially Dipper," said Mrs. Pines. "I agree, dear. Do you want to tell the kids, or should I?" said Mr. Pines. Dipper had heard enough. His heart raced, and his breathing became quick and shallow. He dashed up to his room, as tears streamed down his face. I'm never going to see Gravity Falls again, he thought. He would live a normal, boring life devoid of mystery or magic. He couldn't give all of that up after having a taste.

He had almost lost all hope when a certain yellow triangle materialized, draining the world of color as he appeared. "Well, well, well. What do we have we here?" said Bill Cipher. "W-w-we killed you. You can't be here," Dipper stuttered. "Please, kid. If Stan's memories can come back, so can I," Bill stated, rolling his eye. "Why are you here?" "Isn't it obvious, Pine Tree? I'm here to make a deal," Bill said, punctuated with a cackle. "What sort of deal?" asked Dipper. "Well, I save you from a normal, boring life in exchange for you letting me stick around," Bill laughed. "N-no! Last time I made a deal with you, you stole my body and destroyed the laptop, why would I want you around, and even then, why would you want me around?" asked Dipper. "Well, then have fun with your completely ordinary life. And to answer your question, I like you. You're interesting. Almost like Sixer, when he was younger, without that obnoxious sense of self-importance," said Bill. Dipper thought about this. He knew that this was almost definitely untrue, and just a means to an end, but it did feel nice to have someone appreciate him. He also tried to rationalize it to himself with the old adage, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." If Bill stayed near him, then he could keep an eye on him and thwart his plans. He had made up his mind. "Fine. On one condition; you can't hurt anyone in my family." "Well, then, we have a deal!" cackled Bill, outstretching a hand wreathed in blue flames. Only hesitating slightly, Dipper reached out and shook it, sealing the deal. As soon as he did this, his vision faded, and he felt a searing pain in his head. There was also a feeling that was almost like when he was expelled to the mindscape after Bill stole his body, but different somehow. The last thing he heard was Bill's roaring laughter before blacking out.


	2. Chapter 2

When Dipper came to, he realized he was in his bed, not on the floor. He tried to remember what had happened before he passed out. He recalled hearing his parents say that he wouldn't be going back to Gravity Falls, running upstairs, and then Bill showed up. He vaguely remembered making a deal with Bill, something about him 'saving him from an ordinary, boring life' in exchange for what? Letting him stick around? Mentally, Dipper berated himself for agreeing to such a stupid deal. Bill was obviously tricking him, and he played right into his hands. What he was wondering though, was where was the triangular dream demon? For now though, he was just glad he was leaving him alone. As he pulled himself out of the bed, he noticed an odd feeling throughout his whole body, almost like it wasn't really his. He ignored the feeling and pushed to the back of his mind, as he went across the hall to talk to Mabel. He knocked on her door, hoping he could talk to her about last night. She opened the door, let him in and said,"How are you doing, Dipdop? I found you last evening just collapsed on the floor, so I put you in your bed." "I'm doing fine, but I need to talk to you about what happened. Bill showed up last night, and I made a deal with him," recounted Dipper, quickly filling her in on the events of last evening, starting from the conversation he overheard, and ending with his collapse. "Why would you do that, Dipper? He's obviously tricking you," Mabel said. "I know, I know. It was stupid, but I just couldn't imagine a life without Gravity Falls," murmured Dipper. "He hasn't showed up yet, though? We can 'discuss' this with him when he does, then. I'm not mad. How 'bout we get breakfast, okay, Brobro?" "Okay… Mom's making waffles anyways," Dipper tried his hardest to crack a smile. "Great! Wait… how do you know about the waffles?" "I.. I don't know how, I just know," stuttered Dipper. "M-maybe you smelled them from the kitchen," Mabel reassured, not sounding entirely convinced. "Okay, I guess that must be it," appeased Dipper. Mabel dashed down the stairs to the kitchen, but Dipper lingered for a bit. He knew he hadn't smelled them from the kitchen, but he couldn't think of any other explanation. He couldn't even ask Bill, since he had disappeared, right after making a deal to stick around. He decided to just go downstairs, and get those waffles. As he sat down at the dining room table with a hot belgian waffle, his mom asked him how he was doing. "Fine, I guess," he said, not wanting to reveal anything about last night. He really wished he could talk to Stanford about this, but he was all the way back in Gravity Falls, having just returned from his and Stan's excursion to the Arctic Circle. His dad asked,"Do any of you kids know what the weather is for today? I was thinking of maybe going out to the park and having a picnic lunch on this beautiful Saturday morning." "It's currently 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with a 10 percent chance of rain," said Dipper. How did he know that? He was sure he hadn't checked the weather this morning. "Well, look who's on top of things," laughed his mom. He looked at Mabel, who also knew he hadn't actually checked the weather this morning. She had a concerned look, and seemed very worried. Dipper wanted to just get out of here, even if it was just for a few minutes. He got up, saying that he was just going to the bathroom, which he was. When he arrived, he put the toilet lid down and just sat there for a minute, before looking in the mirror. What he saw in there was definitely not normal. His eyes were entirely blue, with a large slit pupil, almost like those of a cat or a snake. Actually what it most reminded him of was… Bipper. "Well, kid, have you figured it out?" said Bill, laughing, "You're a dream demon now, Pine Tree."


	3. Chapter 3

"W-what?!" cried Dipper. Bill laughed. "I said, you're a dream demon. What about this is so hard for you to understand, Pine Tree?" "How? I'm still here in reality, and I'm not a shape like you," said Dipper logically. Bill sighed. "Right now, you're possessing your physical body, just like when I stole your body last summer. The exact how isn't important, ancient demonic magic, etcetera, etcetera. Though, you know, I would have never been able to do this if you hadn't made that deal." "What? I never agreed to this!" said Dipper. "Not exaaactly. You did just want your life to be interesting, and, well, this is plenty interesting, dontcha think?" "I-is this reversible? I don't want this!" cried Dipper. "Nope, but it'll be so much more _interesting_ than just being an ordinary meatsack," laughed Bill.

Dipper ran upstairs, and grabbed Mabel, who was currently grey and frozen. As he moved her, she was pulled into the Mindscape with them. "What's going on?" asked Mabel,"Did Bill finally show up?" "Yeah…" mumbled Dipper. Bill floated up through the floor. "Hey, Shooting Star, long time no see. So, Pine Tree, you want to break the news, or should I?" "I-um-uh," Dipper struggled to get a word out. "Well, guess I'll tell her, since you seem incapable of speech." Bill looked at Mabel. "You see, kid, Pine Tree was stupid enough to make a deal with me to make his life more interesting. I agreed, on the condition that I get to stick around, because, well, I like this kid. Well, though, I can't exactly stick around if he's going to die in about 70 years, ya see. So I make him into a dream demon. Win-win scenario, I get what I want, and this will definitely make his life more interesting," "B-but my brother's not some sort of dream demon, he's human, see!" said Mabel, gesturing towards Dipper. "Mabel, I think he's telling the truth. Remember how I just knew things earlier? And look at my eyes. Closely," said Dipper. Mabel did as he asked. "They look like when Bill possessed you, but blue. Oh, I get it now. You had one of your friends possess Dipper, and make it look like he's been turned into a demon. Right. Right?"

Bill furrowed his brow. "I guess show, not tell is the rule for Shoo," said Bill, right before blasting Dipper with a bolt of energy. When it struck him, he collapsed, and a blue, one eyed pine tree flew out of his unconscious body. "Wh-what's going on? What's happened to my body?" Dipper looked down at himself,"Why am I two-dimensional? Am I a pine tree?" "Jeez, kid, relax. I just kicked you out of the meatsack you're inhabiting to prove a point to Shooting Star by revealing your true form. It's not a big deal." "Not a big deal? My body is on the ground, and I'm this dream demon thing. What about this is not a big deal?" "First thing, your body is not on the ground. You're in your body, got it. That fleshbag is not your body. You're just temporarily possessing it. Second, I couldn't undo this if I wanted, and I don't want to, so get over it, Pine Tree," cackled Bill. Meanwhile, Mabel was standing there in shock, not wanting to believe what she was seeing. Dipper saw her expression, and dived back into his body to comfort her. "It'll be okay," reassured Dipper,"I'm still me." "Really?" asked Mabel. "Yeah. Really," said Dipper, "Awkward sibling hug?" "Awkward sibling hug," agreed Mabel. "Pat, pat," they said in unison. "Ugh. I'll be watching you two. See you soon." With that, Bill disappeared, and the world went back to color. "We need to talk to Grunkle Ford about this." "Agreed." Dipper grabbed his cellphone, and called Ford's number. Dipper murmured to himself. "Please pick up. Please pick up." Ford picked up. "Hello Dipper. What did you call to talk to me about?" "It's really important, but I don't want to talk about it over the phone. I could usually just tell you in a few days, but my parents are thinking that I shouldn't go back to Gravity Falls." "I'll see what I can do. You being forced to stay away is in direct opposition to the Gravity Falls Natural Law of Weirdness Magnetism, and I can't have that, now can I?" said Ford, hanging up. Dipper hoped that he would succeed, and that he would see him soon. Hopefully, he could help with their problem.


	4. Chapter 4

That evening, Ford called back. "It worked! I just had to tell them how we missed you, and how all of your friends there would be really sad you couldn't make it for the summer, and they agreed, as long as I made sure to look after you really well." Dipper was elated, but he was also berating himself, not for the last time, for taking the deal, since it would have been so easy to just manipulate his parents into letting him go back. Wait, he thought, manipulate them? That seemed pretty dark. "Oh, don't worry about that, Pine Tree, you are a demon after all." Bill said this as he materialized, but the world stayed in color.

"Why isn't everything grey?" asked Dipper. "Because I'm still in the mindscape, but you're not. You can only see me because you're a dream demon and linked to the mindscape. Oh yeah, and everyone can hear you talk to me, so try and use telepathy," said Bill. How do I do that?, he thought, trying to project his thoughts. "That's good enough for me to hear, but not anyone else. Perfect!" Why did I think about manipulating my parents?, he projected to Bill. "Well, that's simple! It's because you still haven't fully transformed. You may physically be a dream demon, but you're still changing magically and mentally. Those little flashes of information earlier were just the beginning. There is so much more on it's way. Your mind will also change, your thought patterns becoming more dark, manipulative, demonic." No! I'll resist it. I'll still be me… right? Bill laughed. "Sure! Or at least, you'll think so." Hopefully Ford can help with this, at least, thought Dipper. "It's almost cute how you think he'll be able to do anything. I'll even let this go ahead, that's how ineffective I think this is," said Bill. Dipper ignored him, and went to tell Mabel the news. He knocked on her door, and when she didn't answer, he opened it to see her in Sweatertown. When she heard him open the door, she quickly stood up and said,"Oh, hey, Dipper. How are you doing?" "Grunkle Ford called back, we're on for Gravity Falls on Monday," said Dipper, conveniently omitting his earlier conversation with Bill. "That's good. I really hope he can fix this whole situation." Dipper agreed, though he had a sinking suspicion that he couldn't do anything about it. "How about we watch a Saturday night movie?" asked Dipper as an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. "Okay," said Mabel. They went downstairs to pick a movie. Mabel searched through their DVDs and found exactly what she was looking for. "Dream Boy High!" she said, with her usual manic energy. Dipper didn't really want to watch that neon abomination, but he felt he owed it to Mabel. "Fine," he said, in a truly heroic act of sacrifice. "Yaaay! I've been wanting to watch this movie with you all summer!" she screamed in a fit of excitement. When he started to watch, though, he realized that it wasn't just loud and obnoxious, but it also managed to be incredibly boring. Forty-five minutes into the movie, Dipper had managed to pass out despite the bright colors and loud sounds. When this happened, Dipper was evicted from his human body, just like when Bill had blasted him with that energy. "Hey kid, looks like you realized how your vessel kicks you out when it falls asleep," laughed Bill. "What should I do? This isn't good. I have to get back to my body!" Dipper tried to dive back into his human body, but Bill grabbed him. "You know what, I'm not going to let you do that just yet. Instead, you are going to get used to this, and I'll take care of your vessel for now." With that, Bill dove into Dipper's unconscious body. "Hey, Shooting Star, this movie sucks." "Dipper…" said Mabel, a bit disappointed. "Nope! Bill Cipher at your service!" he said with an unnerving grin. "Get out of my brother's body you evil triangle!" Mabel yelled, but not loud enough for their parents to hear. "No can do, but I'm just borrowing it for a bit. I'll take great care of it." Mabel sighed, "Don't try anything. I'll be watching you." Meanwhile Dipper could only watch while this happened. He thought that he might as well try to make the most of his situation. But what could he do? All of a sudden, Dipper had an idea. He could contact Ford in his dreams, and tell him about the situation without having to wait until Monday. He visualized Gravity Falls, and willed himself to go there, and shockingly it worked. He flew over to the Mystery Shack to find Ford sleeping. He descended into his head, and entered his dreams. Ford was dreaming about his and Stan's monster hunting adventures on the Stan-'o-War II. Ford and Dream-Stan were fighting a giant squid when Dipper materialized in front of Ford, accidentally causing the rest of the dream world to fade away, leaving an endless white void. "Identify yourself, dream demon!" he yelled at Dipper, brandishing a gun. "It's me, Dipper!" he cried, hoping Ford would believe him. Ford lowered his gun. "I don't understand. Why would a dream demon claim to be Dipper?" "I'm not lying! I was stupid and made a deal with Bill, and he turned me into a dream demon. Please believe me, Grunkle Ford!" desperately cried Dipper. "Hmm, well, you do sound like Dipper, and you did call me Grunkle Ford, rather than any other nicknames, so I'll believe you for now. How exactly did this happen?" he asked. Dipper quickly filled him in on the circumstances leading up to his transformation. "Oh dear. I guess the Gravity Falls Natural Law of Weirdness Magnetism is stronger than I thought. It was powerful enough to get you to make an, admittedly stupid, deal with an entity such as Bill Cipher when you thought you'd never be able to come back to the town," said Ford, not being entirely helpful. "I KNOW THAT! Can you actually help, or should I just leave?" said Dipper, the words feeling wrong and foreign. Ford had pulled out his gun again. "Shit. I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me," said Dipper, his face in his hands. "It's okay, kid. I've never heard of anything like this before, but I'll look into it and try to help you, just don't do that again. Try to keep it together, at least until you get to Gravity Falls. Deal?" "Deal," replied Dipper, but as he said that, his hand lit up in blue flames. Ford inadvertently took a few steps back. "Deal," repeated Dipper, waiting for Ford to shake on it. Hesitantly, Ford reached out, and shook his hand. Dipper only noticed the magical flames after Ford was already shaking his hand. "Aah! Sorry about that. Guess it's binding. Anyways, I should probably go now. I hope Bill hasn't done anything too bad to my body." "Wait. Bill has your body?" asked Ford, but Dipper was already gone.


	5. Chapter 5

When Dipper got back, he was surprised that Mabel was still awake. Her and Bill were on the couch watching a really cheesy horror movie and eating popcorn. Bill looked up and saw Dipper floating there. "Hey, Pine Tree, you're back! Shooting Star and I picked out a movie. It's funny how dumb it is." "Dipper's here? Where is he?" asked Mabel, but both Bill and Dipper ignored her. "Can I have my body back now?" he asked. "Fine, but I will be doing this again sometime," declared Bill, right before leaving his body. Dipper was quick to repossess it, but it disturbed him how it felt off, especially compared to his dream demon form. "Beginning to notice, aren'tcha. How your true form is more comfortable than the fleshbag you seem strangely attached to," said Bill with a smirk in his voice. Just shut up, thought Dipper. "Ooh, and you even made a deal with Sixer. Now that is hilarious," laughed Bill. Dipper just tried to ignore him. It was almost midnight, and he felt tired, but he didn't want to be kicked out of his body again. "The thing is, your vessel needs to sleep, but you can't stay in it when it sleeps. Quite a dilemma, eh Pine Tree? Sleep, and just get out of that dumb meatsack for a few hours, or deprive it of sleep until it becomes completely non-functional, and eventually passes out, resulting in the first option," said Bill, laughing. Dipper knew that Bill was probably right, but he still wanted to be stubborn. "Well, I'm still staying awake." "Well, then I'll just take away your choice in the matter," he said, blasting Dipper with a bolt of sleep magic, sending him hurtling out of his collapsing body. "Why are you doing this? Why do you care so much whether I just stay in my body or not?" "Because, Pine Tree, you need to understand that it is not your body, and you are not human anymore, so STOP ACTING LIKE IT!" Bill continued. "You know, usually, when a new dream demon is created, the creator will kill their original body so that they have no CHOICE but to deal with it." "So, why didn't you do that, Bill?" "Because, I have more leverage over your family this way," he said, projecting an aura of confidence but feeling unsure. "Okay, that's a bit worrying, but one more question. When will I get more knowledge, like you said?" asked Dipper. Bill laughed. "Finally looking on the bright side, eh? It usually takes about a week to a month for that to fully kick in, so be patient! It happens after all the mental changes have happened, so that'll be fun!" Bill left after that. Dipper spent the rest of the night trying to master the Mindscape teleportation he had used to get to Ford. Sunday passed fairly uneventfully, save for a disturbing thought contemplating the murder of the school bully, which very much worried Dipper and amused Bill. Finally, it was the night before they would leave for Gravity Falls. Instead of sleeping, Dipper decided to read up on dream demons(well, just Bill) in Journal 3. Surprisingly, Bill didn't bother him at all during the night. That was because he had gone to pay Stanford Pines a visit. "Well, well, well. It's been a while, Sixer." He appeared in the same field him and Ford were in the last time he visited his dreams. "Bill! Why are you here?" yelled Ford. Bill narrowed his eye. "Don't play dumb, IQ. We both know exactly why I'm here," Bill said ominously. "This is about Dipper, isn't it," he replied. "Bingo! Here, have a cookie that's always screaming," said Bill. "Why are you doing this? Why did you turn him into that?" asked Ford. "A large part of it is because of you, Sixer! Sure, the boy is more interesting than you ever were, but I just want to see the look on your face when you realize that he's becoming just like me, and there's nothing you can do about it," taunted Bill, as the field burned, creating a wall of fire around them. "I'll stop you! You won't get away with this!" responded Ford. "I'd like to see you try. It would be hilarious, cute even," said Bill, before Ford woke up. That morning, both Mabel and Dipper were excited to go back to Gravity Falls. Mabel was anxious to see Candy and Grenda, and they were both hoping for Ford to have some amazing fix for what was happening with Dipper and Bill, but Dipper had a sinking feeling that Ford wouldn't be able to do anything. "Ahhh! Aren't you so so excited! We're going back to Gravity Falls today!" Mabel screamed. "Yeah! I can't wait." said Dipper, who couldn't help but notice that it seemed like Mabel was just trying to ignore the dream demon issue until it went away. Their parents saw them off as they got on the bus. "Bye, kids! Stay safe." said their dad, and their mother said,"We love you very much, remember that!" Just like that, they were off!


End file.
